Excellent article about the 2009 ES:
The Lexus ES 350 is seriously bland and unsporting. It offers a comfortable but uninvolving driving experience, and serves as little more than an excellent tool for getting from point A to point B. There are plenty of people that want just that, which has led to continued sales success for what is considered the benchmark for comfort- oriented, entry-level-luxury sedans.
It would be harsh to call it a road-going couch, if for no other reason than the lack of a bench in the front. Road-going La-Z-Boy recliner would be a more apt description. Often derided as being little more than a gussied-up Toyota Camry -- the two are built on the same platform -- the ES is actually substantially different. Although both are powered by the same 2GR-FE 3.5-liter V-6, the ES' has been retuned and makes slightly more power -- 272 hp and 254 lb-ft of torque -- but needs premium octane. It's mated to the same six-speed automatic transmission as the Camry and also features a manual-shift mode. Fuel economy is just slightly lower than the Camry's at 19 mpg city and 27 mpg highway. Thanks to all that power, the 3694-lb Lexus can hardly be accused of being slow -- our tester posted a 6.5-second
0-60 time and a 14.9-second, 96.0-mph quarter mile. Braking performance is decent, too, taking 127 feet to stop from 60-0.That's all academic, however, as few ES drivers will ever be going remotely close to the car's limits. The lead-footed will be put off immediately by the super-soft suspension and mushy brakes. Hit the brakes too hard and the car will submarine forward. Give it too much gas and it will lean back just as easily. Smooth, gradual pedalwork is the order of the day. The car did put up decent skidpad (0.78 g avg) and figure-eight (27.8 sec @ 0.68 g avg) numbers, but body roll is, unsurprisingly, quite excessive under hard cornering.
It is on freeways and suburban parkways where the ES works its magic. That same suspension softness that uses a loose definition of the word "handling" also eats up bumps, potholes, and other irregularities. Combined with the comfortable seats, the car provides a cruise smooth enough that driving while even slightly drowsy could easily lead to serious complications. The steering, while completely devoid of feel, is effortless, and at city speeds, the cabin is quieter than an empty library. At freeway speeds, a slight amount of wind noise comes through, but that is easily drowned out by turning on the stereo.
The ES starts at a base price of $35,145, but our heavily loaded tester came in at $43,775, thanks to two big-ticket option packages. First is the $3880 "ultra luxury package," which adds perforated leather upholstery, heated and cooled front seats, a wood-and-leather steering wheel, panoramic glass roof (with openings in the headliner for backseat as well as front-row passengers), swiveling HID headlamps, power rear sunshade, rear side-impact airbags, rain-sensing wipers, 10-spoke wheels, and a driver's seat cushion extender.
Second is the navigation/premium audio package, which combines a touch- screen navigation system with the available 300-watt 14-speaker Mark Levinson audio system into one $4250 checkbox. In addition to the usual six-disc CD changer and auxiliary input jack, the Mark Levinson system can also play DVDs and old Frank Sinatra (or perhaps Frank Zappa) tapes. Yes, tapes. The ES is one of the few cars on the road that can be had with the ancient technology known as the tape deck (the Lexus GS, GX, and SC being three others). No record player in the trunk or eight-track in the glove box, though. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, even 20-year-old Soviet rock tapes recorded from vinyl sound pretty good. The stereo as a whole, however, is designed better for music such as jazz and soft rock rather than say, rap or death metal, as the sub bottoms surprisingly easily. Additionally, our ES was equipped with the $500 intuitive parking assist system that adds proximity sensors to the front and rear of the car.
Of course, a bevy of luxury options still doesn't make the ES a car for everyone. Enthusiasts will want to stay far, far away, as will those that want their expensive car to be noticed. But those that are content to comfortably and quietly drift through traffic will find it to be more than agreeable.